Dark Fibre Africa positions itself for future growth

3 Jun 2013

In the pursuit of future growth and sustainability, Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has begun to bolster its top management capabilities with the appointment of two senior executives. Reshaad Sha has been appointed as DFA's chief strategy officer whilst Brian Alwar joined as chief sales and marketing officer.

Dark Fibre Africa positions itself for future growth

Over the past five and a half years DFA has experienced significant growth and its open access business model continues to provide for an environment that encourages competition in the South African telecoms and internet service provision market.

DFA's active fibre optic infrastructure now spans over of 7,300km nationally with a planned increase of approximately 1,300km over the next 12 months, making it the largest provider of open access fibre in Southern Africa.

This growth has fuelled both direct and indirect employment across South Africa. "In a recent measurement, DFA has estimated that through its open access fibre deployment, at least 4,500 jobs have been created directly as well as indirectly. Additionally, an innumerable amount of businesses and consumers are experiencing the benefit of the DFA fibre network deployment."

DFA CEO Gustav Smit says these appointments are key to the future growth of DFA. "Sha's responsibility is to lead DFA's future growth strategic planning as well as an increased focus in areas of the businesses that require both medium and long term direction. He recently served as MD of a wholesale long distance voice termination company and prior to that was director of strategy for Cisco Systems in the emerging markets where he covered Middle-East, Russia, Turkey and Africa."

In Sha's role as director strategy, he provided advisory services to telecom operators and national governments across the emerging markets in new revenue and connectivity strategies. He brings along a wealth of experience in the telecoms sector with international and local perspectives.

Until recently, Brian Alwar served as executive sales and marketing for Grintek Saab. He started out as a technician, designing and fault-finding down to component level. After this, he moved into management to head up a surface mount technology unit, thereafter cultivating his passion within the sales and marketing arena.

"As chief sales and marketing officer, Alwar's responsibilities include seeking new market opportunities and co-ordinating the business development and sales teams. His professional career within the telecommunications sector spans over 20 years in different facets of the industry," concludes Smit.